The History Boys is an erudite, sharply written film with consummate performances, but its origins on the stage are all too obvious.As superb as the ensemble cast is (with many of the original actors from the London and Broadway performances), the portrayals at times feel too theatrical for the screen. Perhaps that is because stage director Nicholas Hytner, who brought the story to the London stage, is at the helm here as well.

In a new USA TODAY/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health poll of cancer survivors and their families, one-third of respondents said cancer caused someone in the household to have emotional or psychological problems.

Some of the letters are comical (a man asking God to let him win the lottery, twice), others are heartbreaking (a distraught teen asking forgiveness for an abortion, an unwed mother pleading with God to make the baby's father marry her).

About 300 letters, most of them unopened, that were sent to a New Jersey minister ended up dumped in the ocean, a local man says. The minister died two years ago at 79. How the letters, some dating to 1973, wound up bobbing in the surf is a mystery.

Brooklyn's historic Green-Wood Cemetery spooks guests each year with walking tours of its 600,000 graves. "This tour is driven by stories by murders, by spirits, by tragedies, all of that," Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman said.

The Drowsy Chaperone was chosen best musical of the New York theater season, and The History Boys by Alan Bennett was named best play in awards given Sunday by the Drama Desk, an organization of theater journalists and critics.

Many baby boomers are finding that retooling their homes to make room for parents offers peace of mind about a loved one's health and assurance that their senior-suitable houses will be ready for them as they age